Our Hidden Treasures

(by Enid Robertson, Patron of the Friends of Shepherds Hill)

The members of the Friends of Shepherds Hill Recreation Park are thrilled that as we have removed olives, boneseed and other nasties, we continue to discover a wonderful collection of little native plants that have been overshadowed and crowded out by the aggressive weeds. These little native plants – understorey plants – may be obvious for only a short period each year and remain dormant below ground for the rest of the time.

All our locally indigenous plants are important, but some due to their scarcity, are especially so. These are known as plants of conservation significance and are given special ratings to denote their particular conservation status.

Some plants have already become extinct in our region and we certainly do not want that to happen to any more.

At one of our earliest working bees, back in November 1999, we discovered by seeking out the source of a beautifully penetrating musk perfume, the pale flax lily Dianella longifolia – an exciting find. This lily has a Vulnerable rating. Since then we have discovered four other populations of this important plant in Shepherds Hill Park. (For a description of this Dianella see our newsletter No 3.)

Probably our most precious plant is the variable glycine, Glycine tabacina, a scrambling legume with small purple pea shaped flowers. This glycine enjoys hot spots – preferring to grow on north-west facing slopes and at the foot of rocky outcrops that get full sun. It is under constant threat not only from the competition with weeds and being overshadowed by olives but also from trampling feet and bike riders who unthinkingly create new bike tracks through their populations.

The Friends have plotted a map showing the distribution of the plants of conservation significance that we have already found in Shepherds Hill. We realised how many special areas we have. It is imperative we care for all of these. We know of sixteen (16) different species which have conservation ratings, three of them are native perennial grasses, e.g. red leg grass, Bothriochloa macra, which is threatened. Most of the others are also small plants. Below is a list of those we have found so far during our working bees and exploratory walks. Categories of conservation status codes are listed in order of decreasing conservation significance.

E - Endangered: rare and in danger of becoming extinct in the wild.

T - Threatened: likely to be either Endangered or Vulnerable but insufficient data for a more precise assessment.

V - Vulnerable: rare and at risk from potential threats or long term threats which could cause the species to become endangered in the future.

R - Rare: has a low overall frequency of occurrence (may be locally common with a very restricted distribution or may be scattered sparsely over a wider area). Not currently exposed to significant threats but warrants monitoring and protective measures to prevent reduction of population sizes.

U - Uncommon: less common species of interest but not rare enough to warrant special protective measures.

In addition to all these special plants, our own greybox grassy woodland is a ‘plant association’ of high conservation rating. Once widespread on the Adelaide Plains and in the Hills Face Zone, greybox woodland has been either totally cleared or much reduced in area to make way for grazing land, orchards, housing and roads.

tawny family 2011 Here in Shepherds Hill we have one of the few remaining stands of ‘old growth’ greybox – original big trees, which have never been cut for timber. They have hollows in old limbs; hollows that are essential to our many hollow-nesting birds such as kookaburras, galahs and rosellas.

I am sure that as we continue with our working bees more treasures will be revealed.

For descriptions of Aristida behriana and Bothriochloa macra, I can recommend the book "Grass Identification Manual" by author Joan Gibbs and artist Rochelle Gibbs. This book is a pictorial guide to the recognition of native and exotic grasses in the Northern and Southern Lofty Botanical Regions of South Australia. This easy to follow book was available at the nursery in Belair National Park; I presume it still is.It is also available from the Native Grasses Resource Group (see Links on the Contact Us page).

Pittosporum phylliraeoides: Native Apricot
Small tree with weeping branches. Leaves narrow or oblong, pale green. Petals butter yellow. Fruit forms a hard, orange, egg shaped capsule which splits to reveal red sticky seeds. Flowers winter and spring.

(Drawing courtesy of Ann Prescott)

Ptilotus erubescens: Hairy Heads

Stems radiating out along the ground from woody centre. Leaves narrow. Flower clusters red or pink and densely covered with silvery hairs. Flowers spring and summer.

(Drawing courtesy of Ann Prescott)

Species	Common Name	Status State SA	Status Region SL
Aristida behriana	brush wire grass		U
Austrostipa elegantissima	elegant spear grass		U
Bothriochloa macra	red leg grass		T
Dianella longifolia	pale flax lily		V
var. grandis	-	-	-
Eucalyptus microcarpa	grey box	E	U
Glycine tabacina	variable glycine	R	E
Goodenia albiflora	white goodenia	-	U
Goodenia pinnatifida	scrambled eggs	-	U
Lavatera plebeia	Australian hollyhock	T	U
Lotus australis	Australian trefoil	U	U
Maireana enchylaenoides	wingless fissure weed	-	U
Pittosporum phylliraeoides	native apricot	R	R
var. microcarpa	-	-	-
Pleurosorus rutifolius	blanket fern	-	U
Ptilotus erubescens	hairy heads	-	R
Velleia paradoxa	spur velleia	-	U
Vittadinia blackii	Western New Holland daisy	-	R

Locally Indigenous Native Species Found in the Park

Botanical Name	Common Name	Family
Acacia dodonaeifolia	Sticky Wattle	Leguminosae
Acacia paradoxa	Kangaroo Thorn	Leguminosae
Acacia pycnantha	Golden Wattle	Leguminosae
Acaena echinata	Sheeps Burr	Rosaceae
Allocasuarina verticillata	Drooping Sheoak	Casuarinaceae
Alternanthera denticulata	Lesser Joyweed	Amaranthaceae
Amyema miquelii	Box Mistletoe	Loranthaceae
Aristida behriana	Brush Wiregrass	Gramineae
Arthropodium strictum	Chocolate/Vanilla Lily	Liliaceae
Arthropodium fimbriatum	Nodding Chocolate Lily	Liliaceae
Astroloma humifusum	Native Cranberry	Epacridaceae
Austrodanthonia spp.	Wallaby Grasses	Gramineae
Austrostipa elegantissima	Elegant Spear-grass	Gramineae
Austrostipa scabra	Spear-grass	Gramineae
Bothriochloa macra	Redleg Grass	Gramineae
Bulbine bulbosa	Bulbine Lily (Native Leek)	Liliaceae
Bursaria spinosa	Christmas Bush	Pittosporaceae
Calostemma purpureum	Garland Lily	Amaryllidaceae
Carex bichenoviana	Strand Sedge	Cyperaceae
Carex breviculmis	Short-stem Sedge	Cyperaceae
Convolvulus angustissimus	Australian Bindweed	Convolvulaceae
Cheilanthes austrotenuifolia	Rock Fern	Adiantaceae
Crassula		Crassulaceae
Cyperus vaginatus	Flat Sedge	Cyperaceae
Dianella longifolia var. grandis	Pale Flax Lily	Liliaceae
Dianella revoluta	Black Anther Flax Lily	Liliaceae
Dodonaea viscosa ssp. spatulata	Sticky Hop Bush	Sapindaceae
Drosera spp.	Sun Dews	Droseraceae
Einadia nutans	Climbing Saltbush	Chenopodiaceae
Enchylaena tomentosa	Ruby Saltbush	Chenopodiaceae
Enneapogon nigricans	Black Heads	Gramineae
Epilobium hirtigerum	Hairy Willow-herb	Onagraceae
Eucalyptus camaldulensis	River Red Gum	Myrtaceae
Eucalyptus leucoxylon	S. Aust. Blue Gum	Myrtaceae
Eucalyptus microcarpa	Grey Box	Myrtaceae
Glycine rubiginosa	Twining Glycine	Leguminosae
Glycine tabacina	Variable Glycine	Leguminosae
Gonocarpus elatus	Hill Raspwort	Haloragaceae
Gonocarpus mezianus	Raspwort	Haloragaceae
Gonocarpus tetragynus	Small-leaf Raspwort	Haloragaceae
Goodenia albiflora	White Goodenia	Goodeniaceae
Goodenia pinnatifida	Scrambled Eggs	Goodeniaceae
Hardenbergia violacea	Native Lilac	Leguminosae
Juncus bufonius	Toad Rush	Juncaceae
Juncus subsecundus	Finger Rush	Juncaceae
Lomandra densiflora	Pointed Mat-rush	Liliaceae
Lomandra micrantha	Small-flower Mat-rush	Liliaceae
Lomandra nana	Small Mat-rush	Liliaceae
Lysiana exocarpi	Harlequin Mistletoe	Loranthaceae
Lythrum hyssopifolium	Lesser Loosestrife	Lythraceae
Maireana enchylaenoides	Wingless Fissure Weed	Chenopodiaceae
Malva behriana	Australian Hollyhock	Malvaceae
Muehlenbeckia gunnii	Coastal Lignum	Polygonaceae
Neurachne alopecuroidea	Foxtail Mulga Grass	Gramineae
Olearia ramulosa	Twiggy Daisy Bush	Compositae
Oxalis perennans	Native Oxalis	Oxalidaceae
Pelargonium litorale	Storks Bill	Geraniaceae
Pittosporum angustifolium	Native Apricot	Pittosporaceae
Pleurosorus rutifolius	Blanket Fern	Aspleniaceae
Poa		Gramineae
Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum	Cudweed	Compositae
Senecio quadridentatus	Cotton Fireweed	Compositae
Setaria jubiflora	Warrego Summer Grass	Gramineae
Stackhousia monogyna	Creamy Candles	Stackhousiaceae
Themeda triandra	Kangaroo Grass	Gramineae
Vittadinia blackii	Vittadinia	Compositae
Vittadinia cuneata	Fuzzweed	Compositae
Wahlenbergia luteola	Bluebell	Campanulaceae
Wahlenbergia stricta	Tall Bluebell	Campanulaceae

Extra Reading
Article about "Garland Lily" - http://wp.me/p2Xem2-t4